The Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, following an internal investigation, has rejected a trustee's accusations of impropriety and unauthorized tightening of doctrinal parameters. The board reportedly approved a report, based on its own executive committee's investigations into the charges,…
National WMU to suffer from more funding cuts
The Woman's Missionary Union of the Southern Baptist Convention, which has seen its annual revenues drop precipitously in the last eight years, now stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars more from one of the two mission boards it…
Carter, Clinton hope compassion agenda will unite Baptists across North America
Baptists from across North America will convene in Atlanta early next year to emphasize their compassion rather than the racial, theological and social conflict that has divided them for decades. Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton—two of the world's…
SBC officials reject Carter, but not all Southern Baptists agree
Southern Baptist officials harshly rejected Jimmy Carter's effort to unite all Baptists in North America under a compassion agenda, calling the ambitious plan “voodoo ecumenism” and a thinly veiled Democratic strategy to woo values voters. But other Southern Baptists, including…
Belmont subpoenas church records in Tennessee lawsuit
Belmont University has subpoenaed giving records from 100 Tennessee Baptist Convention churches in an ongoing legal dispute with the convention over control of the school's assets. The subpoena asks for records on churches' giving to the Cooperative Program between 1951,…
Fires investigated at N.C. churches
“Suspicious” fires damaged two Baptist churches and a break-in was discovered at a third in Greenville, N.C., the night of Jan. 13. Memorial Baptist Church and Unity Free Will Baptist, located near each other in the city about 50 miles…
Massachusetts legislators vote to send marriage ban to voters
A week after the state's highest court chided them for not acting sooner, Massachusetts legislators relented Jan. 2 and OK'd a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in the only state that currently allows it. On the…
Bushes, Clintons, Obama, Graham among year’s most-admired
Americans must have politics on their minds. According to a recent Gallup poll, George W. Bush is the most admired man in the world. Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-NY) is the most admired woman. And Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), an early…
Belmont names non-Baptists as controversy continues
Belmont University, embroiled in a lawsuit with the Tennessee Baptist Convention, has further angered some convention leaders by appointing non-Baptists to its board of trustees. The Nashville school announced, via a Dec. 21 press release, that eight new trustees had…
Robertson predicts ‘mass killing’ by terrorists in U.S. this year
Pat Robertson said Jan. 2 the United States will face a massive terrorist attack in late 2007. The 76-year-old religious broadcaster made his prediction during a broadcast of The 700 Club, his news-and-commentary show. Robertson said that, during a recent…
Not just for Christmas anymore
Some might say Mary, the mother of Jesus, doesn't know her place. Instead of staying in her traditional Protestant role—quietly overlooking the manger in Christmastime crèches—Mary is emerging as an increasingly popular figure in books, articles and movies. And here's…
For Christians, Nativity overcomes mixed reviews, potential scandal
One week after its debut, a movie based on the Gospels' simple Nativity narrative is spurring optimism among Christian film fans, who seem willing to overlook potentially scandalous news about one of the movie's stars. The Nativity Story debuted Dec….